Katherine Payne of Knightdale took a chance on a $2 Lucky for Life ticket on Monday and won a $25,000 a year for life prize.
Payne bought her lucky ticket from Poor Boy General Store & Grill on Poor Boy Farm Road in Knightdale. She won her prize by matching all five white balls in the drawing. The odds of winning that prize are 1 in 1.8 million.
She claimed her prize at lottery headquarters Wednesday and had the choice of receiving $25,000 a year for the rest of her life or a $390,000 lump sum. She chose the $390,000 lump sum and, after required state and federal tax withholdings, took home $279,050.
Lucky for Life is one of six lottery games in North Carolina where players have the option of buying their tickets through a retail location or Online Play. Lucky for Life drawings are held every night.
For details on how $63.5 million raised by the lottery made a difference for education programs in Wake County last year, visit www.nclottery.com and click on the “Impact” section.